Dispensers for sheet materials, such as facial tissue, are often provided with the sheets in the dispenser interfolded or interleaved with adjacent sheets such that the withdrawal of one sheet partially exposes the subsequent sheet in the dispensing opening of the dispenser. Partially exposing the next sheet enables a person needing a facial tissue to easily grab the exposed end to quickly dispense the sheet. Frequently, this type of dispensing is referred to as pop-up dispensing. Often, to prevent debris from entering the dispenser, to reduce multiple sheets from dispensing, or to assist with retaining the partially exposed sheet within the dispensing opening, a dispensing window constructed from a clear film or plastic material is provided. Typically, a slit or other restricted opening is present in the dispensing window to retain the partially exposed sheet within the opening. While a narrow slit in the dispensing window can assist with presenting tissue sheets for subsequent removal, it is sometimes difficult to remove the initial sheet from the dispenser due to the narrowness of the slit. For instance, the narrow slit can interfere with the ability of a person opening a new tissue carton to locate and find the leading edge of the first tissue sheet in the stack. Furthermore, the narrow slit may get distorted or damaged by inserting a portion of one's hand inside of the dispenser to retrieve the first sheet.
In order to assist with dispensing of the first tissue sheet, U.S. Pat. No. 4,574,952, entitled Box Containing Facial Tissue which granted Mar. 11, 1986, to Masui discloses a carton containing facial tissues in which double sided tape is attached to the undersurface of a removable panel of the carton and, in turn, attached to the uppermost sheet in the stack of facial tissues inside the dispenser. In this manner, when the carton is opened and the removable panel is detached along a perforated line, the uppermost facial tissue sheet is automatically removed from the container along with the removable panel.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,715,633, entitled Interfolded Sheet Dispenser Having a Starter Sheet Pull-Out System which granted Apr. 6, 2004, to Thoms describes a dispenser for dispensing a stack of disposable sheets having a removable panel that is releasably attached to the first sheet in the stack. When the removable panel is pulled off the dispenser, the first sheet in the stack is partially withdrawn from the container. After being partially withdrawn, the sheet releases from the removable panel.
Finally, pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/216,468, entitled Tissue Sheet Dispenser And Process For Making Same filed Aug. 31, 2005, discloses a dispenser having the first sheet adhesively attached to a removable panel with the adhesive located in a recess in the removable panel. By placing the adhesive in a recess, the adhesive material is prevented from adhering to other portions of the dispensing container before the first sheet is attached.
Although the above references assist with dispensing the first tissue sheet, they can be difficult to implement in some embodiments. For example, if the dispensing window utilizes a narrow slit to dispense the tissue sheets, the dispensing window with the narrow slit disposed between the removable carton panel and the first tissue sheet can interfere with attaching the first tissue sheet to the removable panel. The adhesive or tape needs to attach the first tissue sheet to the removable panel while at the same time not sticking to the dispensing window.
Therefore, a need exists for quickly dispensing the first sheet of a stack of sheets in a dispenser that overcomes the above problems. More particularly, a need exists for locating and quickly dispensing the first sheet that is compatible with dispensing windows having a small opening or narrow slit.